Raigad (on Maharashtra Day)

Raigad…!! A self contained name which is inspiring us since its existence. You can just imagine the threat of this fort unless you actually visit it. After coming here and standing at its base, you can feel it. It’s so huge, tall and vertically straight from almost all sides that it is truly said about this fort – “Only water can come down and wind can climb upwards”. This is the reason; I decided to visit this fort on the auspicious occasion of Maharashtra Day to attend the Indian Tricolor Flag Hosting which is done thrice a year (15 Aug, 26 Jan and 1 May). Another secrete reason was, I have got a new camera (Nikon P80) and wanted to start it off with a memorable trek. I will try not to repeat the already posted information about this fort here.

If you are planning to visit Raigad, take my suggestion of visiting on your own vehicle (may that be bike or car). When I visited this place, on all my visits, I faced problem in reaching the fort base from Mahad. It costs you more than what you had planned as there are very few state transport buses running in between and smaller auto doesn’t agree to go till base following a hard Ghat. You may have to have a private auto/rickshaw which may cost you Rs/- 300.00 for full auto to reach the base village (Hirkani Wadi/Rope Way Station). I believe, you know the ways to reach Mahad by now. After reaching base, you can either go by walkway or ropeway. Ropeway will cost you Rs/- 150.00 per head for two way (going up and coming down) and Rs/- 100.00 for one way. Walkway is of course free…!! Here, I would suggest, go by ropeway and come down by walkway so as to feel less tired. You can also book the room at upper ropeway station from Here in Pune. It will cost you starting from Rs/- 300.00 to Rs/- 900.00 per room for 24 hours stay. MTDC rooms are also available on fort but they are little costlier. After reaching the top, I suggest, not to eat and drink anything at the canteen of ropeway or MTDC as they are not worth it from cost and taste perspective. Better you go to the people living on the fort and they can serve you at their best taste and your best price. Specially, if you buy water from canteen, it will again add up to your expenses, better you take it from these guys, you will get clean, cool and natural water from Hanuman Taka. Please remember to leave some tip, may be Rs/- 20.00 to 30.00 for 4-5 bottles of water. The lunch/dinner will cost you Rs/- 30.00 per plate which includes 2 Bhakari and either Pithala or Bhaji along with Kanda and Chatani. If you are staying on the fort for a day or two and missing sunset and sunrise then its criminal offence against the nature of Raigad…!! Few places where you can catch best sun shots are Holicha Maal, Takmak, Shiv Samadhi and Jagadishwar Temple. Another important thing to mention is, remember to see the Bhavani Tok, BaraTaki, Wagh Darwaja and other untouched spots on fort as these places are visited by very few trekkers.

Note : For more information about how to reach the base and top of fort and what things to see there along with measures to take while trekking Raigad, please visit - This Page. I hope, the information posted in these two pages helps you to explore and enjoy the fort at its best. I am posting some of the pictures taken by me when I visited this fort on May Day (1 May, also known as Maharashtra Day in India as the state was formed on this day in 1960).

Maha Darwaja Raja Shiv Chatrapati Saffron Flag on Takmak Tok The SON and SUN

Bajaarpeth (Market)

Megh Dambari, Nagaarkhana aani Raajsabha

Jagadishwar Temple

These pillars were 7 storied at that time Palakhi Darwaja

Shiv Samadhi

Indian Tricolor, Raje and Nagarkhana from Holicha Maal

One of the Canons near Maha Darwaja

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Sarasgad

(History)
Sarasgad fort is at a height of 1400 feet. Caves were used for storing food and water. Except for a few steep rocky patches (which can be dangerous during rainy season), the climb is relatively easy. To the southeast of the peak is the wall of Taila-Baila, a series of small peaks, which are often used for mountaineering training and camps. Not much of historic information is available about this fort. A very huge wall of Sarasgad is at the north south border of Pali. This fort was mainly used to keep a check on the surrounding regions. From fort, ‘Pali’ and all surrounding areas can be seen. Shivaji Maharaj brought this fort under Swarajya and spent 2000 Hon (the prevailing currency of that time) for its reconstruction. Till independence this fort was under Bhor Sansthan.

(Reach the Base)
The base village for Sarasgad is “Pali” which is the holy city of one of the “Ashtavinayak Ganapati” namely “Ballaleshwar”. It’s in Sudhagad Taluka of Raigad District in Maharashtra. Pali is about 35-40 KM from Khopoli and 120-130 KM from both Mumbai and Pune. If you are going from Pune then route would be Pune-Lonavala-Khopoli-Pali and from Mumbai it would be Mumbai-Khopoli-Pali. You can do this trek either by public transport or by your own vehicle too. I would suggest you to go by own one (Car or Bike) so that you can also catch the nature and amazing Lonavala-Khandala Valley during the travel. I had completed this trek on bike, so let me describe the way to reach Pali by bike. While going from Pune, when you reach Khopoli, take the first left as soon as you enter Khopoli and move forward till more 6-7 KM and then again take left for Pali. You can see a big sign board showing the way to Pali here as it’s famous place in Maharashtra. From here, you will have to drive along the road without any major turn for about 35 KM more and you will reach Pali. This is the base village for Sarasgad. You can park your bikes to any house nearby Main Temple after asking the owner if they can provide the meal and breakfast to you. Many of the houses near temple provide this service for very reasonable rates. Park your vehicles, order the meal/breakfast/tea according to your needs, put your language and take the blessings from Lord Ganesh (Shri Ballaleshwar and Dhondu Vinayak). You will find a drinking water tank near these temples; its water is very chill and sweet too. You can fill your bottles with this water so that you can use this during trek. Better get your food packed from here and eat that on fort, so that none of you will get any problem (I assume, you know the problem…).

(Ascend)
There are actually two ways to reach the top of this fort. One way is from Temple side and another from MSEB office side. I would suggest you to ascend from Temple side as it’s from within city and take you through better/tough route also. Once you all are ready to ascend the fort, take the road behind the temple which goes from within temple premises and walk along the road for few minutes then you will see a cement road to left hand side. Take this road and start ascending fort. After few minutes again, leave this cement road and take the normal road (Paaywaat), you will be then guided by yourself along this route. After some time you will be able to see the rock patch and steps thereafter. Climb the rock patch safely and see the Cave before starting to move towards steps. You may need torch to see the inside view of this cave, as it’s about 18-20 feet deep. 15-20 people can rest here at a time. After this you can see the rock cut steps, start ascending them safely again and after some 90+ steps you will reach the Main Door (Dindi Darwaja) of fort. You can not resist but take some rest here as the cool air flowing throw narrow Khind leaves no option for you.

(About Fort and Sight Seeing)
Once you pass the Dindi Darwaja, you can see the place to live for soldiers called “Chowkidaranchya Devdya”. Walk few steps ahead and you on the fort; here you can see the remains of fort such as “Sadar”, a water tank and ruins of palace. Again walk up few steps and see the bigger water tank called “Moti Haud” and few more caves where food was stored. You can also notice the watch points/towers here which were used keep watch on the nearby area. Come back to left side from here and you can see the way to reach the top most point of the fort called Bale Killa (in Marathi) meaning Citadel (in English). On the Citadel you can see Kedareshwar temple and a lake nearby. Two bastions are there to keep watch on surrounding areas. The place to hold the flag is also here on citadel, in front of Kedareshwar Temple, called Dhal Kathi (in Marathi). We proudly installed our flag (Bhagava) here and roared Shiv-Garjana. From citadel we can see the mountain of ‘Tin Kavdi’. We can locate Sudhagad, Taila-Baila, Dhangad and Korigad. You can of course see the Pali, River Amba along with hot water reservoirs of ‘Unhere’, Konkan and Jambhulpada. On Vaishakh Poornima (full moon day), the villagers celebrate the festival of Shahapeer. Many people go to Kedareshwar temple on ‘Maha Shivratri’.

(Descend)
Once you are all done with sightseeing, eating (keep in mind not to leave your waste material behind) and feeling the old era, you can then start descending fort. I would again suggest to descend via same way as that goes from behind the temple in Pali. It’s very easy while descending just be safe while crossing those rock patches and you can reach the Pali village in an hour. Reach the home where you parked your vehicles, take the blessings once again from Lord Ganesh if you wish and have time, take some refreshment and start heading towards you respective places with sweet memories of Pali and Sarasgad. I am posting some of pictures taken by me when I visited Sarasgad on 7th march 2009.

Sarasgad, while descending Rock cut steps Steps to cave This is awesome view Ruins of fortification

Look at the Cricket Ground View from the top Steps on the way A Cave on the way Sarasgad, first view

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Kille Purandar

Note : For more information about how to reach the base and top of fort and what things to see there along with measures to take while trekking Purandar/Vajragad, please visit - This Page I am posting some of the pictures taken by me on 03 Jan' 09.

Sunrise captured in Dive Ghat Fatte Buruj and Vajragad (in background)

Mastani Talav in Dive Ghat The steps on the way to Bale Killa

Way to Dehli Darwaja

Dehli Darwaja

Kalyan Darwaja

Kedareshwar Temple and Rajgad (in background)

Nishan Darwaja

Shivneri

(History)
Shivaji Maharaj was born on this fort in 1630 and was here till 1632, then this fort was won by Mughals in 1637. Maharaj attacked this fort for four times but could not succeed. This fort was never in “Swarajya” till about 1720 when “Shahu Maharaj” (grandson of Shivaji Maharaj) won it from Mughals. After that Shivneri was with “Peshwa” till British took over the Maratha Empire. Two kilometers away from this fort there are the “Lenyandri Cave” which is one of Ashtavinayak Temple in Maharastra. Closer from here, there is another fort named Jivdhan which is famous for trekking.

(Reach the base)
It is about 100 Kms from Pune. Junner (or say Kusur) is the base village for this fort. It's a Tahasil in Pune district. Better way is to go by ST from Pune to Junner (92-95 Kms) as first bus is at 6.00 AM from Pune and the last one is at 4.00 PM in the evening. Once you get down at Junner, enquire about the last bus going to Pune so that you can take maximum time to see the fort and sites nearby fort, like “Ozar” and “Lenyandri”. These three places can be covered in one day trip, if moved a little fast. From the bus station, you can see “Kamani Majjid”, “Birthplace of Shivaji Maharaj” and “Kadelot Point” along with the caves which are carved on the fort. Take the lrft turn from bus station and reach Shivaji statue (Shivaji Chowk), from here you take the left turn and walk upto 2 Kms to reach village “Kusur”. You will see a college on right hand side while going to “Kusur”, note this as landmark as you will come directly here while coming back. You can also take the bus running between Junner-Kusur but its frequency is very low so better to walk 2 Kms. From “Kusur”, take right turn which will take you on the fort.

(Reach the top)
While walking through the road to top you may observe the well maintained road, road barriers and fortification too. One has to pass through 7 main doors to reach the top of the fort. The names of these doors are as follows in the sequence they come – Maha Darwaja, Ganesh Darwaja, Pir Darwaja, Hatti Darwaja, Shivai Darwaja, Mena Darwaja and Kulup Darwaja. Another small door cum window is at Kadelot Tok called Kadelot Darwaja. There are number of gardens created, street lights installed and sign boards fixed on the way to fort. At first and second door, you can have a good view at both top and down side of the fort as you are at mid height. There is one more “Kaman” before third door, it is broken now but still you can see the ruins of its walls. You can go atop of third door and can again have some great views of nature and gardens on the fort. The distance between third and forth door is maximum amongst all doors and there are few rock cut steps also. Forth door is in the best condition, it has its wooden doors with great piece of craft on it. Big nails are fixed into it along with a small sub-door. You can have few minutes rest here as the cool wind and the chillness below the door roof temps you. One can even have few clicks from camera too. Once you pass this door, you can now go to Shivai Temple to take the blessings from Shivai Devi (on her name the “Raje” was named “Shivaji”) by passing through Shivai Darwaja. From the temple you can either go directly on fort or can choose to go to caves and then to fort. There are some good carvings in the rock that one can not afford to miss. I would suggest go and have a look at these caves, while coming back from there (again through Shivai Darwaja) take right side and keep moving up to reach the sixth door. It’s a double layered and low heighten door. After few more steps you reach the seventh and last door while reaching the top.

(About fort and sightseeing)
There is one more garden after seventh door on both sides and you may found few stalls too selling Lime Water, Butter Milk etc. You can take few minutes rest here and reach the “Ambarkhana” towards the right side. It was the place used to store grains on fort. It is in good condition, as one can go inside and on top of it to have better look at it. From here you can go on the top of a small hill to see the mosque and come back on the main road to head towards main fort. On this way, you will find the iron bars fixed on the deeper side of the road and you can also see the nice view of “Janmasthan”. After waking a bit, you will reach “Ganga-Jamuna Tanks”. These are twin water tanks with very good construction inside. There is one more tank beside these tanks. You can see the “Shiv-Kunj” beside these tanks, where the statue of Shivali Maharaj (as a child) and his mother Jijabai is kept in their memory. Note that there is a way beside “Shiv-Kunj” which will take you to down via some thrilling route, amazing caves and rock cut steps. Just ahead of “Shiv-Kunj”, is the “Kamani Majjid” and “Kamani Tank”. Moving ahead, you come to the ruins of “Royal Palace” which are in good condition. The bathroom having facility for preparing hot water and bathtub is just amazing, moreover the painting and crafting inside the bathroom is still in better condition. Beside this, is the “Birthplace of Shivaji Maharaj” (“Shivjanmasthan’). It is two storied building in very good condition. You can go inside this building and even on the first floor as wel. It is pleasant view from the top. One can have as many pictures as he/she wants here. Leaving this place behind, you come to see the “Badami Lake”. It is called so due to its “Heart Shape”. From here you have to walk some distance and reach the “Kadelot Point” where a small door is build called “Kadelot Darwaja”. This is the other end of fort. Go back to “Shiv-Kunj” from here and take the earlier mentioned route (The line saying…“Note that….”) to go down.

(Come down)
While going down, keep you balance towards the rock and towards the downside because it is quite dangerous at some point, but its still enjoyable patch for a trekker. After you cross the iron bar, go ahead instead of going down and have a look at one of the best cave in the world. You will be amazed by the carving and digging. You can see the window carved in a single/uncut rock and that giant door of the cave. Notice the “Ganesh Murthi” carved in the rock just when that iron rod’s patch ends. See the caves but don’t go more further and deep in greediness of getting more out of the trek, it could be hazards as the route and trees are not that good, so I suggest you all to be cautious. While coming down, you can see the “Teak Wood” trees as the base of “Shivneri” comes under reserved forest area. Cross the compound wall of forest safely and you are now near the college that came in midway while going to “Kusur”. From here, reach the bus station and either go to Lenyandri or go to Pune as per the time constraint. I am posting some of the pictures taken by me when i visited Shivneri in October 2008.

Door 8 - Kadelot Darwaja A cave on the way to fort A window carved in uncut/single rock The way, it was damn HOT

Shivai Devi's Temple Door 7 - Kulup Darwaja Door 6 - Dindi/Mena Darwaja Shiv-Janm Sthan Birthplace of Shivaji Maharaj

Door 1 - Mahadarwaja Door 2 - Ganesh Darwaja Door 3 - Peer Darwaja Door 4 - Hatti Darwaja Door 5 - Shivai Darwaja

Vajragad

(History)
Vajragad was one of the 23 forts given to Mughals in Purandar treaty in 1665. It was won back in 1670. After Shivaji Maharaj’s death, it was lost to Mughal and they named it as “Ajamgad”. Again in 1695, Shahu Maharaj won it and handed over the control to Peshwas. It is also called “Rudramal”. It’s height from sea level is about 4444 ft (~1355 m). Vajragad and Purandar are sibling forts very near to Pune (about 30-35 Kms). Its mythological name is “Indraneel Parvat”. As per Hindu mythology, when Lord Hanuman attempted to carry “Dronagiri” mountain range, a portion of it slipped off his hands and fell down to form “Indraneel Parvat”. There is a Siva Temple in the base village of these forts, “Narayanpur”, called “Narayaneshwar”. This temple is said to be from the days of “Pandavas”. Purandar and Vajragad always had a demanding place in Maratha Empire as Purandar was Capital of Peshwas for many years.

(Reach the base)
There are two ways to reach the Narayanpur, which is base village for both Purandar and Vajragad. One is via “Saswad” (Pune-Swargate-Hadapsar-Dive Ghat (remember to see the “Mastani Lake” from here)-Saswad-Narayanpur) and another is via “Balaji Temple” near Kapurhol on Pune-Satara highway (Pune-Swargate-Katraj-Katraj Ghat-Kapurhol-Balaji Temple-Narayanpur). One can go either by bike or ST bus or city bus to this fort. There is continuous city bus service for Saswad from Hadapsar and ST bus service for Balaji Temple from Swargate. Once you reach Narayanpur, take the blessings from “Narayaneshwar” and “Ek Mukhi Datta” and then move towards the Narayanpeth. It is a small locality of few houses very close to Narayanpur. From here, one can either go by trek route or by road. There are two trek routes available. One take you directly to “Binni Darwaja” and another route take you through some old bungalows and few lakes. I would suggest go by this route so that you can see the view of Sinhagad, Torna and Rajgad along with some great scenes from down and moreover some of the parts of Purandar and Padmavati Lake. Choose any route from these three (bike/car, trek1 and trek2 (which I suggested)) and you will finally arrive at Binni Darwaja on Pupandar Machi.

(Reach the top)
Here, you can see a statue of “Narveer Murarbaji Deshpande” and a Shiv Temple behind his statue. Beside the Bini Darwaja, you can see the map of India made of cement on the ground. Beside this, is a ruins of church. There are many bungalows and halls on this Machi as it was center for Military activities at some point of point. From this church, move ahead and you may see old Shiv Temple on your right hand side. After this temple, there is a Hotel where you can have your lunch/break fast as per the requirement. The water in the tank beside this hotel is too cool and sweet in taste. There are three temples near this hotel – Purandareshwar, Rameshwar and a Maruti. After having a break at this point, move ahead and reach the “Shivale Lake” surrounded by many ruins of old bungalows. You can see the reflection of Vajragad in this lake. Leave the lake behind and reach “Bhairav Khind”, where a statue of Shivaji Maharaj is installed. From here one may go to either Purandar (right side) or Vajragad (left side). Take left for Vajragad and climb a small hill then keep left and march towards Vajragad. After having almost a round turn to the rock patch you may now see the walls of fort. Locate/Identify the position of door and then move upwards. In rainy season its hard to locate the door as there is much grass and taller trees coming out due to rain.

(About fort and sightseeing)
Once you identify and reach the footsteps of door, you can see the broken road and steps which will take you to the “Mahadarwaja”. A cool and fast moving air flowing in the door tempts you to take the rest and spend few minutes in the shadow of door. You can notice the sign (I think of it to be lotus) on the door which is not elsewhere (on other forts it is generally an elephant, horse or tiger is carved). There could be many buffalos and cows on the fort as they come here to eat the grass. Walk through the steps after door and come on the top of the fort. Here you can see a huge rock in the middle and the wall surrounding the border of the fort. You can see the bigger and complete picture of Purandar from here. There are not much places to see on this fort now but two temples and two water tanks are in good condition along with the Mahadarwaja and few ruins of fortification. Move beside that huge rock and you can see those temples of Vajra Maruti and Shiv Temple. Go though a small door cum window and see those temples and tanks. After seeing the temples you can spend some more time on fort and have a look at surrounding area.

(Come down)
After seeing everything, come back to Purandar Machi from same route and decide whether to go to Purandar or back home depending upon time. While going down, I would suggest, go by the trek route which you haven’t seen while coming so that you can explore more things. This route starts directly from Binni Dwarwaja and take you to Narayan Peth in just 30 minutes. I am posting some of the pictures taken by me when I visited Vajragad in October 2008.

Vajragad - Mahadarwaja Binni Darwaja on Purandar Machi Narveer Murarbaji Deshpande Narayaneshwar Temple in Narayanpur

Purandar-Vajragad Ghat Top view of the ghat Map of India on Purandar Machi Vajragad Balekilla Vajra-Maruti on Vajragad